Fire and Spice
by Squarepeg72
Summary: Draco and Ron are struggling to find balance between work and home after they each lose their spouse. Can interference from their children put them back on the right path?


**A/N: Written for Ron Draco – Better Together Fest 2019**

**Prompt:** After his wife's death three years ago, Draco has tried - and failed - with the dating scene. When he decided he's just given up, drowning himself in work, Scorpius decides to take matters into his own hands. With the new Ministry in place, the Wizarding World has become more susceptible to muggle technology, though many Pureblood traditional families shy away from it. Scorpius creates a dating profile online for Draco without his knowledge, and responses flood in. What will happen when his son agrees for Draco to meet one of the responders in Diagon Alley?

* * *

Draco looked around the room and groaned. So many people, but not a single person he wanted to see. He was tired of watching other people find happiness while he was still searching. The hole left in his soul by the death of Astoria felt like it was starting to swallow him whole. Sliding back into the shadows, Draco decided that this was the last time he would let his son talk him into the dating scene.

"Father, you need to give it a chance. It has been three years. "Scorpius watched Draco pace in front of the sitting room fireplace. "This house is so big and feels so empty. I know why you work all the time. It is better than being here."

"That is not why I work, Scorpius." Draco sighed and turned to face his son. "The Ministry counts on me to make sure the DMLE runs smoothly, and our world is safer. I don't need more than I have."

"Father, you need more than this." Scorpius held out his hands, turning in a circle. "Mother's portrait, empty rooms and Lucy are not what you need. Someone to share your time with and make this place home again is what you need."

Scorpius picked up Lucy and began to scratch the white cat behind her ears. "You need someone to spend time with. I can't be here all the time, and you are at work more than you are home."

"I am done hunting for companionship in the rubble of what passes for social gatherings these days." Draco huffed. "There are doxies disguised as beautiful people at all of them. They either see a Gringotts vault or a broken man who needs to be fixed. They never see _ME_."

"Who says you have to use the traditional methods?" Scorpius pulled his mobile from his pocket. "There are apps for that. You can be as anonymous or visible as you want."

"Your mother tried to get me to get one of those things." Draco pointed at the mobile Scorpius was holding. "They are nothing but Devil's Snare. You can get lost in there just like anything else."

"Will you at least try it? If you are going to work yourself to death, at least give me a way to get in touch with you without having to hunt down an owl." Scorpius held out a small box for Draco. "Albus and I have set it up for you, and I'll teach you how to use it. You tend to disappear when you get wrapped up in your work."

"If it will make you drop other subjects, I can try." Draco took the box from his son and opened it. "Just make sure it's simple. I have enough to worry with at work, without these infernal devices make life more difficult."

Scorpius took the mobile from Draco and turned on the screen. "Everything you need is on this screen. The lock code is Mother's birthday. Press with your finger here, and the home screen will appear." Scorpius made Draco push down on the home key on the mobile. "This button is for calls, this one for texts and this one's for the home security system."

Scorpius spent the next hour explaining the mobile and its apps to Draco. "I'll call you when I get to my flat. Make sure you answer your mobile." He waved as he reached for the door. "There is a dating app on there for you want to try. She would not want you to be alone forever. Just think about it, please."

Draco was ready to throw the blasted contraption at something. He had somehow managed to call Potter three times today when he was trying to call his son and had hung up on the Minister when the blasted thing touched his cheek. "I am not doing this. People can just send owls or house elves. Bloody thing has made life more difficult. And what is that noise? It never stops."

Scorpius tried not to laugh as he watched his ordinarily steady father threaten the small object he held in his hands. "It can't be that bad. You have only had it a week, and you answered my call this morning. The noise is an app notification. We can change some settings, so it is not always making noise."

"You can take it and keep the bloody thing!" Draco ran his hands through his silver hair. "I'm going back to the bloody office to apologise to the Minister for hanging up on him, and then I am going to find the nearest bottle of firewhisky. Bloody technology and young people…"

Scorpius watched his father storm out of the sitting room. The slamming of the front door soon followed. "Time to try something different," he muttered as he swiped his thumb across the screen. Four notices from the were at the top of the notifications. "That would explain the constant noise. If he knew I had made him a profile, he would hex me into the next century. TIme to clear his messages and get him to see the advantages of technology."

GingerOne: Care to join me for a drink? My children think I need to get out of the house

GingerOne: I don't know why I am doing this.

GIngerOne: Just to talk.

GingerOne: Why don't you have a picture on your profile?

Scorpius looked at the last four notifications that had come in. When he had set up the profile for his father, he hadn't thought about a picture, just getting Draco back out into the world of the living. There were other messages from other witches and wizards, but none caught his attention like those four. Now all he had to do was get them to meet.

DragonHeart: One drink and one conversation. My son sounds like your children

DragonHeart: Muggle or Magical?

GingerOne: Muggle. Tomorrow

GIngerOne: You pick. After dark works for me

DragonHeart: The Prospect of Whitby, 7 pm?

DragonHeart: How will I know it's you?

GingerOne: I'll be by the river. Think about my name

GIngerOne: How will I know it's you?

DragonHeart: Silver hair, dragon headed walking stick

DragonHeart: Always on time

Scorpius tucked the mobile into his pocket and headed for the door. He needed to catch up to his father and find a way to get him to the drink he had just promised someone.

GingerOne: Tomorrow night then

GingerOne: River deck

Ron looked down at the screen on his mobile as it went dark. "What am I thinking? I just agreed to meet a stranger at a pub for a drink. I have lost my mind."

He looked around his office and shrugged. "Anything has got to be better than spending another evening here. Hugo is not going to let up if I don't do something."

"Hey, Pop." Hugo stuck his head in Ron's office. "What are your plans for tonight? And, please, tell me they involve leaving this office and the lab."

"I am going to finish this stack of lab notes, and then I am going to the Leaky Cauldron to meet your uncle. After that, I haven't decided yet." Ron ran a hand through his more silver than ginger hair.

"Which uncle? I have a few to choose from." Hugo leaned against the doorframe and watched his father putter around his desk. "I know it is not Uncles Charlie - dragons, Bill - visiting Aunt Fleur's family, or George - asleep at his desk down the hall. Uncle Harry just sent an owl saying he is stuck in some 'gods forsaken cold place' and Uncle Percy is not dinner company, even Gram says so. So which uncle?"

"Merlin's beard, I was supposed to meet Harry." Ron sank into his chair. "I guess I am sending an owl for pizza and working on lab notes …"

"And going home?" Hugo raised an eyebrow as he waited for his father to finish. "You are avoiding the house again. I have found you asleep at your desk three of the last four mornings. Even Uncle George gets me to wake him up before I leave so he can Floo home."

"The cottage is very empty right now." Ron ran his fingers through the whips of silver that had started showing in his bright red hair. "There is not a room that doesn't echo. She filled so much space."

"Mum would not want you to do this, Pop." Hugo walked over to Ron's desk and placed a hand on his father's shoulder. "She would want you to find a way to keep going and not live in this office."

"It was one of the biggest fights we ever had." Ron smiled as he remembered. "It wasn't long after your sister was born. Things were hectic here, and I was spending more time in the lab than I was at home. She came in here, hair crackling with magic and explained to me, in no uncertain terms, why I needed to be at home and that my brother was perfectly capable of doing a few things."

Ron rubbed his ear as he continued. "She grabbed me by the ear, waved at George, and apparated us both home. When we landed in the cottage, she dragged me to the nursery and said 'You belong here, with us", turned, walked to our room and closed the door."

"She said that a lot." Hugo smiled. "And, it's still true. You belong with us, not here all the time. She would not be happy."

"She haunts every room at the cottage," Ron sighed. "It is easier t be here. I'm trying. I'm meeting someone for a drink tomorrow."

"Come for dinner with me tonight." Hugo walked towards the door. "Mira and the kids would love to see you. Then, spend the night. We'll make a fort in the living room, and the kids can hang out with their favorite Gramps."

GingerOne: Drinks at 7 at Prospect of Whitby

DragonHeart: Who is this?

GIngerOne: We talked last night

DragonHeart: My son may not live until tomorrow

GIngerOne:He stole your mobile and set this up?

DragonHeart: Something like that. I hate this thing

GingerOne: The only reason I have one is because my boy said I work too much

DragonHeart: Same

GIngerOne: So … a drink by the river tonight?

DragonHeart: One drink

Ron handed the bartender a note addressed to DragonHeart and took his pint to the deck overlooking the river. He was still not sure what he was doing here, but it was better than going back to his empty cottage. Leaning on the rail, Ron watched the river roll by.

Draco pulled his watch out of his pocket and checked the time. He was a few minutes early. He didn't always travel in the Muggle parts of London, but this seemed the best way to meet someone without the Daily Prophet making a big deal of it. Besides, Scorpius had threatened to move in with his husband if he didn't at least have one drink with someone other than himself.

Draco pushed open the door to the pub and looked around. A note on the bar caught his attention. "DragonHeart" was scrawled on it and a pint was sitting beside it. "Can I help you, mate?" The bartender asked Draco as he approached the bar.

"I think this note is for me." Draco pointed to the note with his screen name. "Do you know who left it?"

"The bloke said to meet him on the river deck." The bartender turned back towards the taps to draw another pint. "Pint's for you too. Have a good evening."

Draco took the pint and the note from the bar and headed for the back door. Taking a sip, he pushed open the door and walked towards the rail. There was only one other person out here. "GingerOne?" Draco asked as he approached the lone figure at the rail. "The name almost makes sense. You used to be a ginger at least."

The figure at the rail turned. "Malfoy?" Ron's voice broke as he recognized the voice behind him. "DragonHeart makes sense now, too. I was sorry to hear about Astoria."

"Thank you, Weasley." Draco joined Ron the rail. "I was sorry to hear about Granger. How are things going at the shop?"

"Hugo wants to run things already, and George is thinking about retiring." Ron leaned against the rail again. "The cottage is too empty, and I spend more time sleeping on the cot in my office than I do in my bed. How are things going for you?"

"Scorpius thinks I work too much and need to find people to spend time with outside the office." Draco took a long sip of his pint. "The Manor echoes when I am there by myself and my office at the Ministry feels more like home than my own home. We make quite the pair."

"Our children think they know how to run our lives." Ron chuckled. "Hugo threatened to move his whole family into the cottage if he caught me sleeping in my office again. I am too stuck in my ways to have little under my feet again. I am too old for that."

Draco laughed as Ron groused. "Scorpius threatened to move in, too. He and Albus came over the other night with an interior decorator and started looking at his old rooms. I cannot live with those two. I am too old for that."

"I guess we are stuck then." Ron set his empty glass on the rail as he looked over the river. "There has to be a way to save ourselves from our children. Surely, we can out think them."

Draco pulled his mobile out of his pocket. "If we keep using these infernal things, do you think they would leave us alone? I would rather send an owl and wait. I have misdialed or hung up one more people than I have actually talked to."

Ron laughed and put his hand on Draco's shoulder. "I still hang up on Harry more than I talk to him. I just use this infernal thing for texts and games. I still prefer owls for important communications. I will never give up my owl."

"We are too old for this." Draco smiled. "Our children will never understand. I didn't realise how much I need this."

"Me. either." Ron leaned back against the rail. "But, don't tell Hugo. He used to hate an 'I told you so' from Mione when he finally listened. I don't want the treatment from him."

"Same here." Draco sighed. "Scorpius is a good kid, but he is too much like his mother sometimes."

Time passed quickly as Draco and Ron enjoyed a pint or two and compared their children's antics. "We need to do this again." Ron set his last pint on the table in front of them.

"Next Friday?" Draco smiled. "Let the know-it-alls wonder about what we are up to."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ron got up from the table. "Time to head home. There is a good Apparition spot about a block from here."

"Until next Friday then, Weasley." Draco reached out to shake Ron's hand. "Same time, same place. Safe journey."

"Safe journey, Malfoy."

GingerOne: Get home in one piece?

DragonHeart: I did. Did you?

GIngerOne: I did. Crookshanks is not happy

DragonHeart: You still have that old Kneazle?

GIngerOne: Try his great grandchild … New generation, same attitude

DragonHeart: Night Weasel

GingerOne: Night Ferret


End file.
